A conventional unlock mechanism for a foldable rear seat back is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 7-18964.
As shown in FIG. 6, in this unlock warning mechanism for a foldable rear seat back, a release lever 100 is moved from a lock position to an unlock position and is held at the unlock position even after a lock lever 102 is moved from an engaged position to a disengaged position. A knob 104A of an operating mechanism 104 is movable between a first operating position (the position shown in FIG. 6) for setting the release lever 100 in the lock position and a second operating position (a position lower than the first operating position) for setting the release lever 100 in the unlock position. In a case in which the knob 104A is moved to the second operating position, an indicator 108 disposed at the upper portion of a rear seat back 106 indicates an unlocked state.
However, with this unlock mechanism for a foldable rear seat back, because the indicator 108 projects at the upper portion of the rear seat back 106, in a case in which the rear seat back 106 is folded forward, the indicator 108 interferes with the seat back of the front seat, and the indicator 108 and the seat back of the front seat may be damaged.
With regard to the technology relating to the present invention, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 6-33729 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 6-33730, a seat back unlock knob is disposed movably along the longitudinal direction of a vehicle, and when the rear seat back is folded forward and the front seat back is reclined rearward, damage to the front seat back by the unlock knob is prevented.